~ Poets Pub

Poetics : Let’s Write Letters

I start writing this post with a heavy heart. Last time I was on Poetics I told you about how a blogger was brutally assassinated in Bangladesh. While a month has passed and no action was taken, what shocked me more was that another blogger met the same fate, in broad daylight. There has been soaring protest in social media of late and I joined as much as I could. I have not recovered from the sadness.

Coming back to Poetics, I want to talk about something that has inspired me recently. A very good friend of mine introduced me to a new phone app called ‘Lettrs,’ and it caught my interest almost instantly. Gone are the days when we actually write and enjoy the old world charm of snail mail, but this revives some of those feelings. One can write their own private letters to pen pals or an open letter to the world. It was a wonderful feeling to read through them. Some were really fascinating.

When I grew up, my mother introduced me to a very specific form of literature – letters by poets and writers. In many magazines such old letters would be published, and it used to amaze me that in very simple day-to-day matters they used such perfect language. It was a great lesson for me. Even before my daughter was born I started writing letters to her, wondering if some day she might read them and discover the joy of writing.

Tonight I want you to write letters – you can mention who the letter is addressed to if you want. You can write about any day in your life, even include mundane things, and show us how the letter can be a beautiful thing. Lastly, you have known us, the dVverse bartenders for some time now, and you must have followed their thought processes, followed their direction in one way or other, while participating in our creative prompts. So you can write letters to us too.

I also want to remind you that this Thursday is Open Link. The ‘bar’ will open at the usual time, and we hope to have a good turnout. Share a new poem or perhaps one that you have written for NaPoWriMo.

Now, if you are new to dVersepoets, this is what you should do:

Write a poem and post it to your site/blog.
Enter a link to your poem and your name by clicking Mr. Linky below.
You will find links to other poets. Read and comment on other poets’ works.
If you are promoting your work on social media, use the tag #dversepoets.

Thank you all. Happy writing.

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About Abhra

I write poetry. Unpublished till now, but working for my first poetry collection. I love the challenge of writing fiction and in future want to try screenwriting. In my mother tongue, Bengali – I write children’s stories.

Like always writing my poems first in longhand, there is a magic in looking at cursive language. My grandfather & I corresponded weekly for a decade. I kept all his letters, & he kept mine. Before he passed, he returned mine. For a time I was posting them chronologically on my blog, but it was too time consuming, & generated little interest or comments; but kudos for coming up with this prompt. I considered writing one last letter to my grandfather, but since I wrote 12 poems about him while he was still alive, I decided to rail against the Republicans instead.

How wonderful that you corresponded so regularly with your grandfather, Glenn. And what treasures those letters are. My mother was the letter writer in my family. I still have a lot of letters she wrote to me while I was in college 60 miles away from home. Ha, those were the days when telephone calls cost money & there was no email. Those letters are treasures now, as are the letters I wrote to my parents back then (which I also have).

Ah, I understand about a hiding muse, Victoria. I really had to play ‘hard ball’ with my muse today to get her to come up with something!! You did well though… sometimes one has to be insistent with one’s muse and not take no for an answer.

Excellent prompt, Abhra. I was actually planning to write a letter to someone today and decided to turn it into a poem for the prompt, so your timing was excellent. I gotta get back to work now, but I’ll be back to check out some letter poems later. Peace, Linda

Abhra – we can never cower in fear, but must continue to speak out against those who would silence us.

A friend of mine many years ago received a letter from a girl who had just moved to California – and it was a series of comments and sights and events that she saw – squeezed in from all directions. it was novel and fun to read about what was happening in her life.

Since my computer will never access your website, it is good to be able to tell you what a wonderful prompt this is! I grieve for all that has happened in the past few weeks, at the loss of people who want to make the world better. I think it is wonderful you write letters to your daughter. After all these years since my father died, I sometimes pull out one of his letters and re-read and touch the writing with my fingers because I miss him so. But I least I have these.

For economy and to keep from harming piggy banks, I cut back on my internet service. Sites that are not located in the US cannot be accessed. I used to email a friend in Canada. Now I send her snail mail. 🙂 I am able to contact you this way because it is going through the Pub website.

Whew, I never heard of that kind of thing really. I was sure that I had seen you comment on Bjorn’s blog, which is located outside the US..so I am a bit confused what would be the difference between Bjorn’s blog and Abhra’s blog. If you access Bjorn’s through Mr. Linky, can you not access Abhra’s through Mr. Linky as well?

Hi Abhra, It saddens me when violence and loss happens, even when we don’t know someone face to face it may affect us in ways we never thought it could. The letter I have shared today was written on the anniversary date of a loss of someone I did know. Last October I wrote a letter that would never be mailed, it was to my sister-in-law on the one year anniversary of her passing. I have pulled it out to share here. The art of letter writing has taken a back seat in recent years to emails and text speak, yet I personally believe there is nothing quite like the sharing of a hand written letter.

Hi Abra, it is horrific the things that continue to happen in our world. Sometimes the news can be just so hard to bear. Thanks for the prompt today–I went lighthearted with my response. Hope all you poets have a wonderful day~

I’m so sorry to hear of these fallen bloggers first of all. Prayers to their loved ones. On the subject of letters, I have always appreciated the art of letter writing. I also love to keep special stationary and I often send congratulatory cards throughout the year to friends and family.

One of the main themes in my upcoming novel is the impact of mysterious letters. So glad I came upon this post today as it reminds me to better embrace the classic way of communication.

Dear Abhra–thanks for keeping us apprised of the recent deaths, how horrible; and for this lovely prompt. I miss the old-fashioned habit of writing real letters–email just doesn’t do the heart justice. I love d’Verse–everyone’s so generous, welcoming and talented. See you all later, xx Dusty J.

Thanks Abhra for the lovely prompt but will probably miss this out due to my workload ~ Letter writing is a dying art but how I treasure the old letters from my mom with her distinct handwriting ~ I agree that so few people nowadays write “real” letters anymore ~

I used to be such a letter writer – and kept lots of letters too. Will posterity ever bother with our emails? Somehow, I don’t think so. The only letters nowadays seem to be circulars, newsletters, political propaganda, that kind of thing, which is what gave me the nudge for my poem.

This is a great prompt Abhra.. and truly JUST the inspiration I am looking for yesterday to create a massive multi-media free verse epic poetic expression of ‘Play of Letters Together’.

To be clear I understand this 7088 word multi-media poetic expression of epic Free Verse Poetry is not everyone’s cup of tea, and It will not hurt my feelings at all if no one has the time or effort to wade through even a third of it BUT.

The POINT IS THIS, YOU INSPIRED ME FRIEND, AND I THANK YOU, BY SHARING IT HERE…:)

AND ON TOP of that more than anything I enjoy commenting on the poetic expressions of others in micro-poetic expressions of the creative flow of my state of living human being wherever I go.. and for NOW.. I go here.. and OMG after getting something to eat today.. after all this writing in the last day..

I ‘WILL BE BACK’, to read and comment on all the poetry here.. as it is a wonderfully inspiring prompt you bring here for NOW. and JOY.:)